A Second Chance
by Forscythe
Summary: A single person manages to survive Junius Seven through pure luck and circumstance, and lived on to see another day. And as luck so happens, Lord Athha has him doing so covert work for ORB regarding the G-Weapons. Retelling of Gundam SEED. Lacus/OC Kira/Flay, maybe some others. (name changed from 'The Butterfly Effect')
1. Chapter 1

Talking

_Thinking_

My muse likes to go on extended specific vacations. It came back for this. I don't own Gundam SEED, and I won't for any future chapters, unless of course Sunrise decides to release more crap like the 3rd part of Gundam AGE. They really should have stayed with Asemu.

* * *

Chapter I: The Mobile Suit's Name is Gundam

* * *

War, it seems like an inevitable constant in life. I was only fifteen when war tore my life apart. Probably anyone who hasn't been living under a rock for the past few years knows about the Bloody Valentine Incident. Well... Junius Seven was my home, and it was taken away in the briefest of instants. It might seem like a stroke of luck that I survived a nuclear explosion, but it's horribly ironic how life sometimes end up working.

I felt the artificial sunlight of the colony on my face. I grinned a bit as the artificial wind caressed my face.

"Ahh... this feels nice. Dontcha wish this could last forever Hikari?"

My sister sighed happily next to me with a little smile on her face, "It sure is nice that every day's like this. I sure don't miss the winter's he had back on Earth three years ago."

"I dunno," I pushed myself into a sitting position, "I kinda miss the old winters. I loved snow when I was on Earth. I'd like to experience it again before I die."

"I suppose," my sis shrugged her shoulders slightly, "Remember the snowball fights we used to have?"

"Yeah..." I sighed deeply, "Those were the days. Of course after all the anti-coordinator stuff started up, Snow won't happen anytime soon unless things change. Not unless we move to Orb, but I dunno if it even snows there."

Hikari suddenly stood to her feet. She looked down at me, and with a mischievous grin proceeded to kick me in the side with a vengeance causing me to yelp.

"What the hell was that for?"

In response the girl stuck her tongue out at me, "You were getting all depressed again. Lighten up and put everything behind you Dylan."

"But its all my faul-"

"Mom and Dad chose to adopt you even though you were a coordinator." Hikari glared down at me, "Don't blame yourself for us having to move out here. Blame Blue Cosmos."

"Alright alright," I put my hands up in defeat, "I know I'm not gonna win this one."

Hikari sighed before getting a sudden look of realization, "Oh yeah, Mom and Dad want you to help them with one of their explorations later. Something about a giant rock letting off some weird readings.

"Sounds like another one of Dad's crackpot experiments," I replied dryly, "Where are they right now?"

"I think they said they'd wait at their lab. You'd better hurry, they want you there by 3:00"

I quickly checked my watch to find that it was already 2:50. I cursed under my breath and took off running, waving goodbye to Hikari. I wish I had known that was the last time I'd see her.

* * *

I half ran, half tripped my way into my dad's lab around 3:05.

"Heyyyy!" I called out, "I'm here Dad! What'd you want!?"

A middle-aged man poked his head out from around the corner, his mussy black hair tinged with grey going in every direction.

"Ah Dylan," his face split into a giant grin, "Have I got a thing to show you!"

My father immediately shoved a set of photos in my face. I grumbled slightly, but couldn't keep the grin from slowly creeping onto my face as well. As obnoxious as my father could get, I just couldn't help but love him regardless. I took the photos and quickly leafed through them.

"Is that a mobile suit leg sticking out of that rock formation?" I looked up at my father to see him nodding in agreement.

"That's what it looks like, and considering how close this particular set of rocks is to an old abandoned research facility it could very well be some sort of prototype mobile suit. I'd love to study it!"

"So you want me to take my ship out there and check it out?"

"Please?" Dad clasped his hands together and looked at me pleadingly

"As if I'd say no!?" I grinned, "I love this kind of thing almost as much as you do. I'll leave as soon as I get my ship prepped and ready to go."

"Thanks!" Dad clapped me on the back and went back into his office to work on what I assumed was his next crazy research project

* * *

It was a short tram ride from the lab to the public hangar that my small space fighter was stored. Honestly I always get it in working condition, so it was just a matter of getting clearance to leave and flipping the ignition switch. The euphoria of flying in the vastness of space overtook me once again as I maneuvered out into the blackness of space. Sometimes I wished I could stay out there forever. But then again I'd probably starve if I tried to do that. It was part of the reason I sometimes wished that the colonies would just show off space instead of having artificial skies. I reached the strange mobile suit leg far to often. I'd have preferred to stay in space just gliding freely.

I popped open the hatch and attached my lifeline to a rung just outside the cockpit. A bit of exploration on my part led to me finding a decently large hole over by where the leg stuck out that led inside the rock formation. My curiosity rose, so I flipped on my light on my suit's helmet and ducked inside. I wasn't really expected to see what I did. A very elegant and streamlined mobile suit was waiting inside. It was completely different from the GINNs I had seen on the news. I found it oddly beautiful.

Suddenly a loud siren sounded on my fighter's radio, and panic flooded my body. That sounded exactly like the siren that went off in tests to say that the colony was under attack. I poked my head out from the rock formation to see a sight that would change my life. The few ships allocated to the Junius colonies as protection were in a full scale battle against a lone Earth Alliance carrier. Luckily the GINNs were managing to hold of the mobile armors, despite their superior numbers.

"How the hell did this happen?" I watched as the battle unfolded, "Guess I'm kinda stuck here...wait what is that!?"

A lone missile shot off from a mobile armor and traveled towards the colony. I wasn't horrible worried, after all what could one misdirected missile do? I was horribly wrong. One instant the colony was there, the next the entire middle of it ruptured in a massive two-sided mushroom cloud, followed by a shockwave that blew me off my feet and back inside the mobile suit's rocky prison.

"No..." tear leaked unbidden from eyes, "You've gotta be kidding me. Mom. Dad. Hikari. WHO THE HELL BRINGS A NUCLEAR MISSILE TO A REGULAR FIREFIGHT!"

Unfortunately in my rage, I had failed to notice that my life cord had snapped and that my space transport was slowly floating away. I didn't notice for a full ten minutes or so, when I had finally cried myself out.

"Oh hell!" I slapped the front of my helmet with frustration, "Now I'm basically stranded, and there's now way in hell I'm risking trying to get at it now that it's so far away...looks like I'll probably be joining my family way sooner than I thought. What a way to go, starving in space."

Suddenly inspiration struck me. What if this old mobile suit still worked! I tried to put the tragedy behind me temporarily, and got to work trying to find the cockpit. My hands scrambled all over the front of the upper body, until my left hand discovered a small discreet latch. I pulled at it with all my might, until it stiffly gave and what I assumed was the cockpit slowly opened up. I tugged myself in and sat gingerly down on the pilot's chair.

"Ignition... ignition..." My head looked rapidly around the interior, "Where's the damn ignition!"

Suddenly a female voice spoke from somewhere overhead, "Name identification required for initial start-up."

I quickly found the COM hookup inside the mobile suit and plugged it into my helmet

"Uh... my name is Dylan Moffet."

"Acknowledged. You may initiate start-up by simply calling for 'ignition' from now on. Initiating launch of all systems."

The cockpit suddenly snapped close, and the asteroid burst apart around me as the mobile suit suddenly spread its arms and legs. The cockpit suddenly became clear in front of me and on the sides from around the middle of my torso up. A simple series of words read out on the screen in front of me just below the viewing screens: '**G**eneral **U**nilateral **N**euro – Link **D**ispersive **A**utonomic **M**aneuver'

"GUNDAM...?" I whispered to myself, "What the hell is this mobile suit."

* * *

Roughly One Year Later

* * *

"That's a strange-looking battleship the Earth Forces have there," I muttered from just outside Search's cockpit, the Gundam itself perched on the edge of an asteroid, hidden from sight, "Wonder why they're paying a visit to the Eurasian Federation. I doubt they'll get a warm welcome from who's in charge..."

I shook my head and stored my binoculars inside a side pouch on my flight suit, "Well they can do what they want to. This Eurasian fortress is just something I wanted to see before heading on to Heliopolis to resupply and pick up the Astray data for ORB."

A glint of something shiny caught my eye just as I was just about to get back in my Gundam and head on my way to Heliopolis. I whipped my binoculars back out, and to my surprise a Nazca-class ship slowly entered my vision. My eyebrows raised upon reading the identification on the side of the ship.

"Le Creuset is the one chasing them?" I checked the markings again to make sure, "Well they're certainly stuck between a rock and a hard place. I understand somewhat why they've chosen the Artemis Base to hide in now."

Rau Le Creuset was definitely up there on my personal hate list. The man was honestly the puppeteer of Zala's genocidal plans. To be honest though, I often wondered if Rau didn't have some other purpose aside from killing every natural. It didn't make any sense if you knew the man. And believe me, in the short time I worked as a spy in ZAFT's government for ORB I got to know the bastard.

"Now that I think about it..." I quickly pulled up the news on my Gundam's console to see a front page I had almost expected to see, "Well there goes any brilliant ideas I had about resupplying in Heliopolis or picking up that data. Hope I don't get too chewed out by Lord Athha."

Suddenly the details all clicked in my mind. A strange Earth Forces ship being chased by Rau Le Creuset. Both coming from the direction of Heliopolis. And considering the dates on the news and today's date it was just coincidental enough to be true.

"Welll damn.." I whispered to myself, "That must be the ship Morgenroete was designing for the Earth Forces along with the experimental mobile suits based off my Gundam. Looks like I will be getting involved after all."

This very thought made me sigh. Getting involved with all three of the major powers in this war was not on my list of things to do today. Hopefully the data from the Gundams will have to do for Mr. Athha since I'm going to guess that the Astrays didn't make it. He did make it clear to take any means necessary to retrieve it. At this point it would mean escorting this ship all the way to Earth while defending it from Le Creuset. Lovely.

Sighing, I pulled the hatch closed and prepared to boot up my Gundam. In all likelyhood Rau would find a way through the lightwave barrier. I had to be ready to help escort the Earth Forces ship to safety. Lord Attha would really have my head if the data got destroyed and I stood by and watched it happen. And if Rau didn't find a way through the shield, I doubt it would be in anyone's best interests besides Eurasia if I didn't go ahead and break through myself.

The ZAFT fleet just sat there for a while. Then, without warning, Rau's small fleet turned about face and headed away from the base. This immediately struck me as very odd.

"The snake probably has a trick up his sleeve," I muttered under my breath, "Best get ready then."

I unhooked the Gundam's beam sniper rifle, and aimed down the scope at the Artemis base.

"Let's see what Le Creuset has planned..."

I didn't have to wait long. Ten minutes after Le Creuset's fleet had departed, the Eurasians had already lowered their shields like a bunch of idiots. Ten minutes after that all hell broke loose when a sudden explosion in the direction of the Eurasian base suddenly erupted into my vision.

"Well that didn't take long." I moved my scope towards the source of the explosion, "Well that wasn't what I expected. Good to see the cloaking device Morgenroete was working on was a sucess I guess. But what the hell is ZAFT doing with one of the prototypes? I can't imagine the Earth Forces would be blowing up their means of protection."

It was indeed the Blitz that was systematically moving from one shield generator to the next. I knew by this point that the commander of the base was probably pissing his pants, which gave me a bit of a guilty chuckle.

I locked on to the Blitz and pulled the trigger. To my surprise, the machine dodged out of the way, and I could hear a shakey voice around my age come through my COM "Commander! Someone's firing on me from the asteroids over there. I need someone to take care of it so I can continue to destroy the shield generators."

"Roger that," an unfamiliar voice sounded. Well that that wasn't Rau. Wonder what he's off doing. "Joule. Elsman. Head out towards the asteroid field and find the mobile suit firing on Amalfi. GINN company one, head to support Amalfi in capturing the legged ship." the unknown commander's voice rang out again. They really should use a more encoded frequency.

"Piss." I saw two very familiar mobile suits along with a small group of GINNs launch from the hangers of the two ships, "Just how many of the prototypes did ZAFT manage to steal?"

Two of the Gundams broke off and headed in my direction, the blue and grey one flying far ahead of the green, brown, and light beige colored one.

"You know what?" I ignited the thrusters on my Gundam's back, reattached my sniper rifle to it's magnetic clip, and drew the two beam sabers sheathed on my Gundam's back, "I feel like a little close combat today. Come at me Mr. Prototype!"

To my surprise, which seemed to be happening a lot today, the one I recognized as the Duel blocked me blow for blow useing it's shield and own beam saber. Eventually I was forced to pull back, as I barely dodged a red bolt of pure energy.

"You know," I ducked my Gundam under the Duel's beam saber and twisted it out of the way of yet another energy bolt from the Buster, "I'm really starting to wish Erica and her team hadn't reproduced my baby so well. This is getting a bit intense. I can't even go on the attack right now!"

"I guess its time to get a bit more serious," I pulled down the targeting utility built into the Search over my right eye, "Let's see how they handle my sharpshooting skills I've been training over the last year."

With out warning, I kicked the Duel away, sheathed my two beam sabers, and unhooked my sniper rifle. My fingers flew back and forth on the key board interface as I set my stabilizers up so that I could properly snipe in midair, as well as the extra thrusters to help myself dodge the pesky beams the Buster kept sending at me.

"What a sniper rifle!?" I could hear the superiority complex in the pilot of the Duel's voice, "What are you going to do with that at this kind of range."

I cooly flipped over another of the Buster's beams, set the rifle into the crick of my Gundam's shoulder and calmly fired a beam at the Duel. It unfortunately only managed to blow off his shield arm."

"Tsch." I shook my head, "I must be getting rusty to miss a shot like that. Also, my battery is getting kinda low, it's going to be a problem if I can't join up with this so called legged ship."

As if in answer to my prayers, the side of the Artemis suddenly burst open, and the Earth Forces' ship flew out at a high speed, unfortunately it was still being pursued hotly by the Blitz and three GINNs

"Well it's been fun..." I saluted awkwardly with my Gundam's arm, "But I really need to go and save myself a legged ship before you lot blow it up."

And with that I shot off towards the legged ship, closely followed by the Duel who's pilot was loudly cursing at me.

"Unidentified pilot indentify yourself!" a female voice rang out on a global frequency

"This the Earth Forces' ship?" I dodged another beam from the Duel's beam rifle, "The name's Dylan Moffet. I'm as friendly of a pilot as you're going to find around here. Look's like you could use my assistance."

"Acknowledged." the voice sounded resigned, "Please continue to assist us."

"Mission accepted." I grinned a little at saying that again, and gunned the Search's thrusters to maximum, "Proceeding to intercept the Blitz and it's GINN escort."

In the end I decided for the least elegant approach. I tackled the Blitz just as it was about to fire, and then immediately turned my sight on the first GINN in the line. I fired my beam sniper and managed to skewer two in one go, causing both to explode.

"ZAFT's pilots need to learned to space themselves out better," I ducked the Search under the Duel's beam saber, "Ths pilot is tenacious as hell!"

As soon as it began it was over. Suddenly the ZAFT mobile suits all withdrew. Most likely from low power.

"Whew," I could feel sweat dripping down my face, "Those guys were really talented. I'm really glad mobile suits have a limited battery, I might not have survived if that fight had escalated."

"HEY!" I yelled over the COM link with the Earth Forces' ship, "Can I come aboard? I'm a bit hungry and my mobile suit is low on power!"

"You are cleared to dock with Archangel." an opening appeared on the front of the ship, "You will be debriefed upon docking."

I don't like the sound of debriefing.

* * *

*I know its not like this in the canon, but I find it really odd that the Gundams don't give chase to the Archangel after it escapes the exploding Artemis Base

Gat-X000 Search Gundam

-Think Lockon's Gundam from Gundam 00 (in SEED's style for the GAT-X line) but with a smaller rifle, and orange instead of green. Also the rifle attaches to the back and can be removed. It isn't locked onto the shoulder.

-As a final note, I decided to write in 1st person, just because that's honestly my favorite writing style. I did debate 3rd for a while though.

-Forscythe


	2. Chapter 2

Whoops! Forgot this in my first edit. Thanks to VRmaster300 for reviewing.

* * *

Chapter II: Coincidences Are Rarely Coincidences

* * *

I stepped out of the Search to see several guns pointed at my head. Guess it's a good thing I locked the OS.

"Is this how you treat all the people who help you?" I hopped down from my kneeling mobile suit to the floor, "Not exactly the friendliest of people are you?"

"Where did you get that mobile suit?" a rather pretty woman with shoulder length brown hair came to the front of the line and pointed an accusatory finger at me.

"Don't go jumping to any conclusions," I thumbed back at my Gundam, "I found her inside a rock just outside my home colony."

"Inside a rock?" the woman looked at me like I was an idiot.

"Inside a rock," I confirmed with a grin.

The woman held her head with her hands and sighed deeply. After a moment she waved the guns down, "So you have nothing to do with the mobile suits that were being developed on Heliopolis?"

"I've no interest in stealing them if that's what you're hinting at." I replied, "If you really must know, I'm unofficially with ORB."

"You're with ORB?" the skepticism filling her voice was a bit hurtful, I tend to be a pretty honest guy, "Your tale keeps getting wilder and wilder every time you open your mouth."

I shrugged, "It's 100% the truth. Feel free to not believe me."

"So let me see if I've got this." A blonde man spoke up from just behind with a barely hidden grin on his face. Glad to see someone around here has a sense of humor. "You're a coordinator unofficially with ORB and you found a mobile suit inside a rock that is extremely similar to the prototypes built on Heliopolis?"

"Well, Lord Athha did give me permission to reveal this information if I saw fit, so I guess it's okay to tell you." I gestured back at the Search, "My mobile suit, which I've christened Gundam, is the basis for all the prototypes that Morgenroete was building for the Earth Alliance."

"Gundam like the OS right?" A brown-haired guy around my age spoke up from his perch just outside the mobile suit I recognized as the Strike. He looked depressed for whatever reason, wonder what was biting him.

"Oh so Morgenroete decided to use my OS as a base after all?" I raised an eyebrow, "I'm surprised they tried to take a coordinator friendly OS and try to make it work for naturals."

"It was sort of a mess," he admitted, a small grin threatening to form on his face, "I had to fix the entire thing before the Gundam would pilot right."

I smiled back, before turning back to the woman, who I assumed was the captain of the ship, "So am I free to go or what? I don't like being locked up by people I just saved. I am here to protect this ship and its mobile suit data, so no matter how much I might not like you guys I promise to do everything I can to prevent this thing from sinking. Sort of on a direct order from Lord Attha, even though I've had to modify my mission.

"Sure sure." the woman held was rubbing her temple, "Just don't make me regret this... but why protect us? You're with ORB right?"

"Part of the Earth Alliance's agreement was to turn over data as well as manufacture a new suit specifically for ORB to mass produce. I take it this is the first you've heard of it?" she simply sighed in response to my question and slowly nodded her head. The poor woman was probably at her wit's end. I'll keep that in mind next time I talk to her.

"Well so long as you agree to let me have the data, I'll be more than happy to keep doing what I'm doing."

"I don't really have much a choice," she took my proffered hand and shook it, "Pleased to meet you...?"

"Dylan Moffet ma'am." I gave a quirky little bow, "Glad to be of service."

"Lieutenant Murrue Ramuis."

"They let Lieutenants captain such top-secret ships these days?"

"The regular captain was killed in the events at Heliopolis

"Ah." I looked over to my fellow coordinator who was trying to sneak out during the conversation, "Excuse me for just a minute ma'am."

"So!" I walked up behind him and tapped his shoulder, "What's your name? I'd like to get to know the guy I'm probably going to be fighting beside for the next few months."

"Huh?" the guy seemed completely lost in his thoughts. "I'm sorry, I didn't catch what you said."

On second thought something was seriously bugging this guy. I gave myself a mental reminder to talk to him later. I don't need him spacing out when we're fighting ZAFT, and a talk from someone his own age might do him some good. I extended my hand out, "I asked you what your name was."

"Oh!" he took my hand and shook it, "It's Kira. Kira Yamato."

"Dylan Moffet." after I finished my introduction, Kira dropped my hand and immediately walked out of the hanger with his head down. Wonder what's biting him?

"Well then its good to meet you Kira!" I shouted after him before turning to look at the brown-haired woman who was staring after Kira with a sad look on her face

"One last thing. You don't happen to have any pears on board?"

"No we don't, I'm sorry," Ms. Ramius responded bemusedly.

"Well that's disappointing." I scratched the back of my head, "I was looking forward to a good pear."

"Well I'm sure we can get some next time we resupply," Ms. Ramius' mouth was twitching upwards. Good. Girls as pretty as her don't need to be perpetually frowning, "Oh one last thing!"

"Hm?" I was just about to jump back up to my Gundam's cockpit.

"Do you need a place to stay?" Ms. Ramius looked a bit worried, "If you do, I can instruct one of the ensigns to see if they can find some room for you."

"I can just sleep in my cockpit." I shrugged my shoulders, "I have been for the last few days."

Before she could respond, a voice sounded out, over what I assumed was the intercom, calling Ms. Ramius back to bridge. She hurried off, apologizing for not being able to finish talking. I wonder what was up? ZAFT would be far too preoccupied with the Artemis Base to even think about chasing us now. At least I assume that they would be. It better not be anything serious; I was looking forward to getting out of my flight suit and taking a shower.

"Hey blonde-haired guy!" I called out to the man who had found my story amusing, "Where are the showers around here? I haven't taken one in over a week. The inside of my flight suit probably smells like crap by now."

"Hey now, names first, then I'll tell you where the showers are," the man walked up to me, standing just a head or so above the top fringe of my dark brown hair, "I'm Mu La Flaga."

"Wow fancy name," I took the hand he offered and shook it, "Even though you probably heard it when I introduced myself to Kira, I'll say it anyways. The name's Dylan Moffet."

"First off since Murrue forgot," Mu continued, "Please take as short a shower as you can; we're a bit low on everything as we didn't have a chance to resupply at Artemis. I'm sure you know why."

THAT was probably the emergency. Low supplies when out in space are never a good thing. Hopefully things weren't horrible. I feel kinda bad about my pear joke now; it feels like it was in bad taste in retrospect.

"Want me to show you where they are?" Mu's voice broke me out of my thoughts

"I'd appreciate it." after I replied, Mu beckoned for me to follow him.

"Hold on sec." I jumped up into the Search's cockpit and grabbed my duffel bag from behind its seat before rejoining Mu on the floor.

"So Dylan," Mu asked, "Do all coordinators get as lost in thought as much as you and Kira?"

"Well I can't speak for Kira," I scratched the side of my face, "But usually my spacing out comes from thinking about my past. It's a long and personal story. Don't ask."

"I think I know where you're coming from." Mu stopped in front of a door clearly marked 'Showers'

"I don't think you really do," I replied frostily, "Why don't you try to imagine watching your entire family biting the dust while you escaped as a pure victim of circumstance."

I stepped inside the shower room, wishing modern ship doors could be slammed. I could sure as hell use the release.

* * *

I stepped out of the shower feeling much cleaner than I had two minutes ago. Having my casual clothes on didn't hurt. The dark green t-shirt, grey pants, and black scarf felt wonderfully cool on my skin.

Ms. Ramius' voice suddenly came on the intercom, "Can all members of the crew please come to the bridge. I have something urgent to discuss."

I sighed. Better go see what's up, I don't want to be left in the dark with anything regarding the ships path. I wasn't in any particular hurry though, so I lazily floated through the hallways deep in my own thoughts. Following the signs to the bridge, I walked in on a heated argument already in progress.

"Enough!" Ms. Ramius' voice resounded throughout the room, "We have to resupply somewhere, and the debris belt is our only option. I don't like it either, but we need it to survive.

I cleared my throat.

Ms. Ramius turned to face me, "Oh Mr Moffet. Could I ask you to aid Kira in protecting the crew as they gather supplies in the debris belt?"

"Sure." I shrugged my shoulders, "That's why I'm here. C'mon Kira let's go prep our Gundams."

"Ah right!" Kira fell into step beside me

"So what are you so worked up about," I asked bluntly once we were out in the corridor and the door had slid shut behind us, "I don't need the guy fightin side by side with me having his emotions like an angry wet cat."

"I..." Kira's mouth flapped open and closed a few times before he finally seemed to decide on what he wanted to say, "Sir, if we really have to have this conversat-"

"We do." I fixed a glare on him, "And PLEASE don't call me sir. I'm not even seventeen years old."

"Can we do it after we grab the supplies from the debris field?"

"...Alright." I could tell the guy was having a rougher time over whatever it is than I thought he was. No point in pushing him to say something that isn't true."

"So uh." Kira kept glancing over at me, "Why the scarf? It's not cold at all."

"Scarfs. Are. Cool." I stressed every syllable, "And don't you forget it. I don't need an occasion to wear one."

"Ah...okay." Kira appeared a little off put by my answer, but his posture had become a bit less rigid. Good, maybe he wouldn't be so bloody tense around me from now on. I don't need someone my age calling me sir. I get enough of that shit back in ORB.

Junius Seven... who knew I'd get to see home again so soon. Of course, you can't really call it home when it's in fragments and scattered across space. I glanced down at my date and time function on the Gundam's main console. A year huh? How stupidly ironic.

"Oh damn!" I heard someone gag through the radio, "There's still dead people down here."

"Well it's not like either ZAFT or the Earth Alliance bothered to clean up," I replied dryly, "Just grab the supplies and keep moving. We don't need any members of the ZAFT fleet sneaking up on us with our pants down."

"R-Right."

Almost immediately Kira's angry voice rang out over the raid, "How can you say that!? Hundreds of thousands of people died, and you sound almost bored of the fact that their bodies are just lying here in space floating around! How would you like to have died in a massive nuclear explosion!?"

"...Kira." I tried to stay calm, but I couldn't stop the tears beginning to leak out of my eyes, "J-Just shut the hell up and work. I want to get out of here before any more bad memories shown their ugly mugs."

"Bad memories?"

I sighed deeply, "Tell you what Kira. You tell me what's bothering you when we get back on the ship, and maybe I'll give a little insight into my past. Just... don't bug me about it right now. I just want to get out of here ASAP."

I sighed and aimed back down my sites, constantly watching my sensors. Apparently the radar hadn't detected any ZAFT vessels anywhere near our location, but I didn't trust that for a second. There could have been a stray mobile suit running around, and I preferred to keep the people I was protecting alive.

"Ms Ramius?" Kira's voice suddenly came through the intercom again, "Do you... Do you think we could do a memorial service for the people who died here? I don't feel right just coming in and taking all this without at least remembering all the innocent people who died here."

"Er yes, now that you mention it that's not a bad idea." Ms Ramius' voice came over the intercom softly, "We aren't being pursued at the moment so we'd be able to do it without worry. Any ideas?"

"I've got one!" A female voice I didn't recognize chimed in, "We could fold paper flowers and release them in the center of the colony's remains."

"That sounds nice Mirialla," Kira replied tenderly, "Do you guys on the bridge want to start work on those while we keep on gathering supplies?"

"Taking my job already Kira?" Ms Ramius responded, sounding amused, eliciting stammers or apology from Kira, "But that's not a bad idea, we'll start at once. We'll let you know when we're done so you can come pick them up in your mobile suit."

"This will probably sound weird..." I took a deep breath, "But thank you all so much for doing this."

"You're welcome." Kira was the only one to reply.

I crouched on my Gundam's shoulder and looked down at the cranes slowly floating out into the depths of space. Kira had released them only moments before, and they made a pretty picture among all the destruction. I'll admit, I hadn't really expected the crew of the Archangel to be so... I guess human is the right word. Maybe I'm too used to dealing with the Blue Cosmos portion of the Earth Alliance.

"It's probably about time to go back to gathering water," Ms Ramius interrupted, her voice filled with some emotion, "We can't stay here all day."

"Alrighty." I hopped back into my cockpit, feeling more cheerful than I had in months. "You ready to resume our noble and illustrious guard duty Kira?"

Kira chuckled in response and took off to hover above the rest of the workers as they headed back to the massive piece of frozen water they had worked on earlier. I took up my previous position far above the group, scanning the wastes around us. It didn't take long until something out of place entered my vision, though it wasn't the enemy I had expected all day long.

"A ship!?" Kira spotted the same thing I had, "But it looks like a civilian one, not military."

"Stay with the workers Kira," I stowed my sniper rifle on the Search's back, "I'll go check it out."

"Right."

My worst fears were immediately realized, as a GINN suddenly rose from behind, its single eye gleaming menacingly. Wasting no time, I equipped the Search's sniper rifle again, took aim, and fired. Quick, clean, and another life goes on my long list of people I've murdered for the "greater good".

I started to hear a noise shortly after destroying the GINN. At first I thought it was just a ringing in my ear, but it kept getting louder and louder. I turned my Gundam round and round, trying to focus on where the noise was coming from, until my vision finally focused in on a small lifepod drifting out in the middle of all the debris.

"Who would have thought I'd find life amidst all this death and destruction, I murmured to myself, before turning on the radio, "Archangel I'm bringing a life boat on board."

* * *

Archangel's crew and I all stood warily around the pod. Personally I didn't think anyone really dangerous was aboard, considering it was probably just a civilian from that ship. Having five guns pointed at the unknown is never a bad idea though.

After a technician spent about a minute of playing with an touch pad, the releases slowly unlocked.

A strange, oddly familiar pink... robot? floated out of the pod, speaking in a kind of annoying tone. It kept saying 'Haro' over and over.

"Oh no..." I slapped my forehead, realization suddenly hitting me like a mountain. My sudden action and words made everyone look at me like I was crazy, "Of all the people for us to find out in the middle of space..."

"Thank you." a beautiful voice floated like a melody throughout the hanger, "I appreciate your assistance."

Somehow, someway, Lacus Clyne was now gently floating out of the life pod, a serene smile on her face.

* * *

I'm noticing that Dylan is turning more and more into a character sort of like Duo as I write him. Not entirely sure how I feel about this.

-Forscythe


	3. Chapter 3

Talking

_Thinking_

Thanks for the three reviews! (as well as all the favorites/alerts I got.)

Blackholelord – Hey thanks for the review! I fully agree on the Lacus thing. I feel like that if Flay had cleaned her act up a bit more and hadn't died, it probably would have been her and Kira that would have gotten together.

Tony B – Thanks for the review Mr. Anon!

VRMaster300- Thanks for reviewing again! As an addition to whatever I said, when it develops I'll stick in Kira/Flay when I can, but the story is first person, so I can't really be going off and telling anything seperate with just them.

* * *

Chapter 3: I Swear This Ship is Cursed

* * *

The pink-haired singer slowly floated past us. Beside me Kira was making weird little noises and had his vision completely locked on the girl. Poor guy was probably already falling in love with the girl; not that I can blame him with how pretty she is.

I nudged him in the ribs with my elbow, "Don't be getting any thoughts in your head buddy. She's in an arranged marriage with Athrun Zala already; you don't really have much of a chance."

"I wasn't thinking about anything like that," Kira hissed back, the tips of his ears turning bright red. Sure you weren't, and Rau Le Crueset isn't a maniac bent on genocide, "And what do you mean an arranged marriage with Athrun!?"

"Hold on a sec," I grabbed Lacus' arm and gently pulled her back down to Earth. The poor girl couldn't get her feet to touch the ground again.

Lacus glanced past me, her eyes widening noticeably, "Oh my... this isn't a ZAFT ship is it."

Oh... couldn't you have kept you mouth shut Lacus. Now the crew knows that you're from the PLANTS and they'll likely see if you're worth anything as a hostage. I was going to try and keep my mouth shut and ship you back from ORB to the PLANTS, but I guess that plan is out the door.

"Well since you're from the PLANTs," Ms Ramius sighed, "We'll need to ask you some questions."

The hidden threat there is, you'd better not be a spy or we're dragging you straight to prison or even execution.

"Lieutenant Flaga, Natarle, I'd like you to sit in on it with me." Ms Ramius waved her hand at the pair.

"Ah before you go, I'd like to sit in on the interrogation as well actually." I lazily waved a hand in the air.

"That won't be necessary" Ms. Badigiruel started

"Cut the crap. Even if I was a member of your military structure, I wouldn't be taking orders from someone like you." I interrupted Ms. Badigiruel harshly. If she even deserves the Miss. I haven't really formed that high of an opinion of her thus far

"How dare yo-"

"Stand down Ensign Badigiruel!" Ms. Rammius commanded. That woman's only an ensign? Where does she get all her ego from?

Ms Rammius turned to me, "You can sit in. You aren't officially a part of the Earth Alliance, but you are responsible for the ship's safety, so it's only right. I would appreciate you not antagonizing my crew members from now on though."

I sighed, "Yes Ma'am."

* * *

The interrogation was going about as well as I expected. Lacus was basically giving out her entire back story despite me making swift cutting motions across my neck every time she was about to reveal a piece of information that would just make her life harder on board the ship. I could tell La Flaga was feeling the same. The poor Hawk of Endymion even facepalmed when the girl straight out sad she was Siegel Clyne's daughter. I guess her honesty is admirable though.

Apparently Lacus had been a part of some memorial delegation for Junius Seven. While the thought was appreciated, I couldn't help but wonder why the protection wasn't better for the chairman's daughter. SURELY they could have seen complications with the Earth Alliance happening if some of the more... radical members stumbled upon the delegation.

"Well that will be all for now," Ms Ramius slowly stood up, looking more exhausted by the moment by the look on her face, "We aren't going to stick you in a prison cell because of your civilian status, but I'd appreciate it if you stayed in your room."

"Okay!" Lacus chirped cheerfully. Well that was easy. I expected some disagreement.

"Ah could you stay behind," I felt someone tug on my sleeve just as I was about to exit the room and lock it behind me. Must be Lacus by the sound of the voice, "I'd like to ask you a few questions."

"Er sure." I plopped myself back down in my chair across from Lacus, ignoring the glare that female ensign shot my way. Oh you can just go to hell. I do what I want lady. I MIGHT listen to Ms. Ramius since she's actually respectable and coincidentally is in charge, but you have no business trying to order me around.

"Could you tell me your name?" Lacus cocked her head to the side cutely, "I feel terribly awkward trying to address you without knowing your name."

"The name's Dylan Moffet," I leaned back in my chair and propped my feet up on one of the beds, "Gundam pilot extraordinaire and a proud first generation coordinator."

"A coordinator with the Earth Alliance military?" Lacus seemed puzzled.

"Nah," I waved a hand back and forth in front of my face, "I'm unofficially with ORB. I'm just here on orders from Lord Attha to escort the data from this ship and those mobile suits you probably saw in the hanger. If you really want to learn about a coordinator that's with the Earth Alliance you should probably ask Kira.

"Should you really be telling that information to the chairman's daughter?" Lacus sounded amused, "Something like this could easily be grounds for war."

"I'm pretty sure ZAFT knows most of the details at this point since they did launch a preemptive strike before the suits were even finished," I shrugged, "In any case, I don't think you really have any business telling me not to reveal vital information missy. What were you thinking coming out and telling them you were Chairman Clyne's daughter?"

"Hm..." Lacus hummed to herself mysteriously, before giggling lightly, "Maybe I wasn't thinking come to think of it, but they already knew I was from ZAFT. Besides, the blonde-haired man already had all but guessed."

"I-I guess." the girl's matter of fact way of speaking was really starting to throw me off. I was so used to dealing with military types, so it was a bit weird talking to a normal girl my age for once.

Lacus suddenly posed a question I hadn't really seen coming, "What do you think of the war?"

"Uh..." I stumbled with my answer, "Well to be honest I think its ridiculous. All it really is two bigots going after each other over something as stupid as racism based on genetic engineering. That's honestly the reason I decided to live in ORB. Coordinators and humans live in relative harmony there compared to the rest of the world."

"If you love peace so much why join the military?" Lacus' voice was way more serious than before. I was not expecting so much philosophical talk.

"This probably sounds a little silly," I grinned sheepishly, "But my dream is to change the world so no one ever has to die from prejudice or war again, and I think me and my Gundam can do it. Unfortunately I can't really do that solo, and Lord Attha happens to share a lot of my ideas. So here I am, 'unofficially' in the ORB military."

"There's nothing silly about such a dream." Lacus suddenly grabbed my hands and stared directly into my eyes, "I wish more people would think like that."

"I uh," I was a bit off put by the feel of her warm soft hands covering mine, as well as her light blue eyes staring directly into mine. Jeezus I'm as love struck as Kira. The sooner this girl gets off this ship and shipped back to her fiance' the better.

"Well!" Lacus suddenly stood up and let go of my hands, "I'm hungry, how about you?"

"Er yes?" I did feel kind of hungry now that she mentioned it, "But wait you aren-"

Lacus had already left the room, and I could hear the sounds of her pink Haro slowly fading away.

"-t supposed to leave your room." I sighed deeply, "Well I better go after her."

* * *

Finding Lacus proved way harder for me then I thought it would. By the time I finally caught up to the girl, (she had found the dining hall, I probably should have just checked there first) I was out of breath and bent over.

"Why is someone from ZAFT allowed to walk around without permission!?" a girl shouted. Doesn't sound familiar, so it can't be that Mirialla girl.

"That'd be my fault." I walked in scratching the back of my head sheepishly, "I was supposed to watch her and then lock the door when we were done talking."

"Oh." Lacus looked just as sheepish as I felt, "I thought you were coming with Mr. Dylan, and I didn't realize you had disappeared until a few minutes ago. I thought you might have had something to do and I didn't hear you excusing yourself."

"For future reference," I sighed, "Don't stare deeply into my eyes and grab my hands. It tends to throw a guy off when a pretty girl does that. I didn't realize you had left until you were already down the corridor."

"Ah," I could see a small pink blush forming on her cheeks, "Sorry about that."

"Wait you were going to LET someone from ZAFT wander around the corridors!?" the red-haired girl started up again.

"Er... no?" I replied, "I was however going to let someone from the PLANTs come get something to eat. Coordinators don't live off of air you know."

"W-well... She's still a coordinator!"

"So am I." I raised an eyebrow, "And so is Kira for that matter. Coordinator's aren't inherently evil. No human being is."

I-It doesn't matter," the girl didn't sound very sure at this point. I wonder if something happened recently that's wearing down at her racist ideals. Usually these types are always sure of themselves, "A coordinator is a coordinator and I will NEVER associate myself with one of them!"

I heard a sharp drawn in breath from Kira beside me, and he flinched like he was struck. Well well Kira, you have the best luck with girls don't you buddy? One with a fiance' and another that hates your guts based on genetics.

"C'mon Lacus," I tugged on the girl's arm, "Let's get you some food and go back to your cabin."

"Right..." the girl replied softly.

* * *

"Must I stay in here?" Lacus spoke up just as I was about to leave the cabin and lock it, "I hate spending my time all alone with no one to talk too.

"The captain ordered it, and it would likely be more safe for you." I turned to face the poor girl, "I haven't met all the crew yet, and some of them could be Blue Cosmos. I really am sorry you have to stay locked up in here. I know you wouldn't try anything, but it's safer for you here."

Lacus sighed and flopped down in a chair.

"Goodbye Lacus." I stepped outside the door and almost ran into Kira.

"Ah!" Kira took a step back, "Sorry about that, I just wanted to apologize to Lacus for Flay's behavior."

"That the red-haired girl who was screaming all the anti-coordinator nonsense?"

"Yes."

"Don't worry about it," I waved my hand in front of my face before heading off to the hanger. "She's heard it a thousand times before. Flay needs to come and apologize in person if anyone is going to apologize."

"Er... if you say so." Kira didn't look convinced. Wouldn't surprise me if he entered after I left.

"Oh and Kira?" I called back, "You are you. No matter what your genetics are. My adoptive parents used to tell me that all the time when I used to beat on myself about being a coordinator."

* * *

I was rudely awakened from my nap by warning sirens and a call to battle stations

"Well at least I'm already in my Gundam," I yawned tiredly. The lack of sleep for two days now was really starting to wear on me, occasional naps not included. Wasting no more time, I slipped on my flight suit, powered up the Search, and launched out on the linear catapult.

Mirialla's face appeared on a screen to the right of the main console, "The enemy is five GINNs, the Aegis, and... a CGUE unit that just launched."

I swore softly under my breath. CGUE units were mostly commanders and elites due to the mobile suit just barely beginning mass production. Wonder if it's Rau since the Aegis is here.

"Has Kira launched yet!?" I pushed the Search's thrust to maximum, "What ever fleet this is getting torn to shreds!"

"I'm on the catapult right now!" Kira's helmeted face appeared beside Mirialla's, "I got to the Strike as fast as I could."

I hope he's over whatever funk he was in when I boarded the ship. If he talked to Lacus he probably is, that girl could make the side of a wall feel better about themselves. I shook my head. If I keep worrying about his problems, my head won't be on straight for this fight.

"Set OS to output stabilization in the thrusters," I tapped a shortcut on my console to change into sniper mode, and pulled down the targeting computer from just above my head, "Let's see if I can't even the playing field before they notice me."

One, two, three. Three shots, and three GINNs exploded. Finally realizing I was there, the CGUE shot towards me at alarming speeds. I'd forgotten how fast the damn things are since I haven't really engaged with them in forever. I reattached my magnetic rifle to the Search's back and went for the dual beam pistols hidden in the Search's legs. I barely got one up to block the heavy sword (beam pistols usually have anti-beam coating to block weapons.) and used the other one to fire at the chest of the other mobile suit. Unfortunately, the CGUE managed to block the shots with its arm mounted shield, before it spun away and stood across from me.

"Beam pistols never were the most powerful thing ever," I grumbled.

"Well well." a silky smooth voice came over the public channel, "Dylan Moffet. It has been a while hasn't it?"

"Too long Rau. I missed your company." I watched the bastard carefully. He liked suddenly attacking while trying to distract with words.

"Still claiming ignorance of your allegiance to ORB?" cold fury was starting to seep into Rau's voice. Did I really make him that mad the last time we met? I guess so. Usually you couldn't get a rise out of Rau for anything.

"Unofficially." I grinned at the grunt of anger I got in return, "I let you know when you have any solid proof of anything."

I'll give Rau credit. Despite my superior mobile suit, he and I were currently evenly matched. I blocked ever sword strike and spun out-of-the-way of ever bullet he fired, but he dodged or blocked every last beam pistol shot that came his way.

"You know..." Rau taunted as I dodged another round of Vulcan fire, "Every moment you spend screwing around with me, more and more lives you could have saved are being destroyed. How does that make you feel?"

"Shut it you bastard!" I flipped over his mobile suit and tried to fire at his back. Unfortunately, Rau still managed to dodge.

"YAHHHHH!" A shrill scream of anguish filled my ears from Mirialla's end. I kicked Rau away and quickly looked back to the Archangel. Well everything LOOKS fine.

"Mirialla is everything okay on board!?" I blocked another sword swipe with my beam pistol

"Yes, no one's hurt and the Archangel is fine." Mirialla's voice came over the radio, "The last ship we were supposed to be rescuing just blew up though. Please return to help protect the Archangel."

Dammit, Kira must have been too preoccupied with the Aegis to be any real help, and I know Mu was probably doing the best he could in his Moebius, but a mobile armor can only do so much against several GINNs no matter how legendary the pilot is.

"Attention ZAFT forces, this is the Archangel." wait a sec, that's Ensign Badigiruel. What the hell is she doing!?, "We have on board Lacus Clyne, the current chairman's daughter. If you attack the ship any further, we will consider that abandonment and do with her as we see fit."

Hold on just on second. Wouldn't it have been good enough to say she's on the ship, and that we'd exchange her for free passage? This just feels scummy to threaten Lacus' life like this.

"Tsch!" I heard Rau over the global frequency, "All forces return to the Vesalius at once."

* * *

Not much to say here at the end. Read and review I suppose. One last note though. The spell correct on this website is weird.

-Forscythe


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